UPROAR IN OAKLAND PARK ANGRY RESIDENTS WANT THE CITY TO PROHIBIT NEW DEVELOPMENTS.

OAKLAND PARK -- Just mention the word "development" in Oakland Park and a debate is likely to result.

Though little vacant land remains, the residential and commercial developments that are under construction are pitting developers and residents against each other and leaving City Council members in the middle.

The growth, viewed as inevitable by city officials, is being challenged by some residents. They blame development for bringing traffic and lowering property values and want the City Council to prohibit further development.

"I'm opposed to anything that would add to our traffic problem," said Ellen Tomas, president of the Royal Palm Civic Association and an opponent of development in the city.

"Our city is not heeding the goals of the county, state or city's (planning regulations), she said. "Oakland Park needs to reduce the annual growth in accidents and reduce the amount of traffic on our local streets."

While more than a dozen projects are either under construction or have been approved, four residential developments -- Oakland Lakes, Summer Lake, Lake Emerald and Oakland Forest -- have gotten the most attention from residents.

Seventeen other development plans are awaiting consideration by the Planning and Zoning Board and other city departments before the projects go to the City Council for final approval.

One of those developments, a proposed commerce center at 3300 NW 18th Ave., already has received heavy opposition from residents of a nearby neighborhood. They complained it would add to the city's glut of vacant strip shopping centers.

City officials rejected the plan and advised the owner to redraw it to include some single-family homes as a buffer for the existing neighborhood.

Tomas, who lives in the 1900 block of Northwest 33rd Court, said she is most opposed to Oakland Lakes, a 56-acre residential development near her home. It is located on the northwest corner of Oakland Park Boulevard and Northwest 21st Avenue. The only exit from her street is Northwest 21st Avenue.

She and other opponents have accused council members of favoring the interests of developers. They said officials are not sympathetic to residents' complaints because all the council members live east of Andrews Avenue and all the development is west of there.

"The whole city has been developed and is being developed in different ways," said Mayor Caryl Stevens. "The things we are addressing in the east are different than in the west. Where I live has nothing to do with development in the city. We're not that big."

Council members said they understand the residents' concerns but cannot prevent land owners from developing property as long as they comply with zoning regulations.

"I couldn't vote against the development without facing huge lawsuits," Stevens said about Oakland Lakes. "It was zoned years ago. I can't do it with all my heart. Tax dollars are too hard to come by."

Stevens said at one time the city was overwhelmed by lawsuits filed against it by developers and a great deal of time and money was spent by the city to resolve them. Some lawsuits are still pending.

Council member Keneth Powell said complaints by Tomas are unfounded.

"It's hogwash. I haven't heard from anybody except folks who heard it from her and the information she's got is generaly way, way off base," he said.

Powell said most residents don't know that before 1975 the city's land-use plan for the Oakland Lakes site allowed up to 40 units per acre. Through negotiations between the council and developer, only 10 to 14 units per acre will be built, he said.

Still, Tomas charged council members with being "continually accommodating to the developers' request for increased units," and that results in less landscaping at the developments.

Powell said new developments are being required to meet stringent landscaping requirements.

"Our tree ordinances require they pay for or replace the trees they remove," he said.

Powell also disputed the argument that new developments lower property values.

"It is ridiculous because you don't have lowered property values because someone is building a residential development," he said.

Residential areas have much less traffic than commercial or industrial sections, Powell said. In addition, there is much more development in the western cities of Plantation, Tamarac, and Lauderhill that is contributing to traffic congestion in Oakland Park, he said.

James McManus, project manager for the W.O. Brisben Co., which is developing Oakland Lakes, said traffic studies have shown that single-family-home projects generate about 30 percent more traffic than multifamily developments.

As for claims that property values will fall because of the development, McManus said, "There's no justification for that."

In addition, he said, the developer voluntarily agreed to reduce the density of Oakland Lakes from 590 to 424 units.

McManus said his company did not receive special treatment by the City Council.

"Some days I have been happy with council; sometimes I have not. Sometimes they put restrictions on me that I don't like. They have certainly not leaned our way. They are concerned with the city," he said.

Not all residents are opposed to the new projects and see them as a sign of progress.

"People own property and they have the right to use it. You got to have progess," said Frank Haase, an 11-year resident. "The city has not been over developed. If you take a ride out west ... it's a world of difference. Actually the development going on here, a few units here and there, doesn't amount to a hill of beans."

Hasse lives in the 1600 block of Northwest 42nd Street in Oakland Hills next to the Wispering Lakes development. He said when it was first built three to four years ago many people were against it who weren't even as affected by it as people in his neighborhood.

Had the land remained vacant, it would now probably be an attraction for vandals and drug users, he said. Instead the developer gave the city fill so it could develop a park nearby, he said.

"The developer could have left and went someplace else," he said. "Instead we have a nice park. The park is 150 feet away from my house and I have no qualms with it, or the developement. It's increased the property values I think."

City officials contend that in the end development will be good for the city and that it is impossible to satisfy all residents.

"People always say, 'Why don't you make the land a park?' If it is made into a park you take it off the tax rolls and you got another hunk of ground that the city has got to take care of. I don't see anybody offering us their back yards as a park," Powell said.

Powell said some residents would be happy only if no new residents were allowed.

"They feel like, 'Let's not let anyone else in,"' said Powell, a resident since 1948. "Well, I have been here long before them and I could have said that too. But you can't stop it with them."

SCRUTINIZED PROJECTS

While more than a dozen projects are either under construction or have been approved for construction, four developments that have gotten close attention from residents:

Oakland Lakes -- A 56-acre residential development planned for a site north of Oakland Park Boulevard between Northwest 21st and 27th avenues. Residents complained because the property has about 2,813 oak trees and some of them will have to be removed.

The developer, W.O. Brisben Company of Cincinnati, Ohio, is disputing the number of trees but has repeatedly stated it will save as many as possible.

Summer Lake and Lake Emerald -- Finishing touches are being added to these two condominium development on 224 acres between Northwest 39th and 44th streets and between Northwest 21st and 29th avenues.

Trafalgar developers have built 536 condominiums on the site around Lake Emerald. The developer wants to build another 360 units on the site and is fighting for permission in court because the city would agree to only 312 units more.

Oakland Forest -- When completed, this multi-family residential development will have 240 units on 14-acres from 3001 to 3099 North Oakland Forest Drive. So far, 172 units have been built and 68 are under construction.

In addition, another parcel, at 3498 S. Oakland Forest Drive, is being developed into a 188-unit multi-family complex. So far one building with eight units is completed.

OAKLAND PARK

The city is 60 years old, 6.7 square miles and has 25,505 residents.

Ninety-five percent of the new housing built in 1987 was condominiums and apartments.

The city ranked 10th in Broward County in the number of condominiums and apartments built in 1987.

There were 412 multi-family units built in 1987, compared to 534 in Sunrise, 488 in Planation and 184 in Davie -- all cities with larger populations.*

The Broward County Planning Office said the city has eight of the most congested intersections in the county.

In the 1987 Comparative Analysis of the Quantity of Commercial and Industrial Land in Broward County the city reported its most significant concerns regarding commercial development:

Traffic congestion caused by strip shopping malls.

Commercial and industrial development located too close to residential areas.

Poorly located industrial development.

The report was prepared for the Broward County Commission by the Florida Department of Community Affairs. Among other things, it warns that "strip commercial land is one of the most inefficient and unattractive development patterns."

The report also states that "commercially designated land can diminish the desirability of adjacent land for residential development" and "excess commercial land distorts the ultimate land use patterns of a community."